[.11] XP math

[Feldor]

Level-BP per Blanket
1-2 5
3-4 4
5-6 3
7-8 2
9-10 1
Every 5 levels after 10th, BP per Blanket goes down by 0.1 to a minimum of 0.2.
11-15 0.9
16-20 0.8
21-25 0.7
26-30 0.6
31-35 0.5
36-40 0.4
41-45 0.3
46+ 0.2

So I created a spreadsheet, that is to large for google docs to deal with gracefully. It calculates average XP gain per level in the current rules, includes XP gain per level in 2.0; and it also calculates the number of blankets required to gain each level in both rules sets.

Blankets needed to gain a level           

Level    blankets v1.3    blankets v2    % v2/v1.3
1           
2           
3    4    3    75%
4    7    6    86%
5    11    8    73%
6    15    12    80%
7    20    15    75%
8    25    20    80%
9    31    25    81%
10    38    34    89%
11    45    44    98%
12    52    56    108%
13    60    67    112%
14    68    78    115%
15    77    89    116%
16    87    100    115%
17    97    112    115%
18    107    125    117%
19    118    137    116%
20    130    150    115%
21    141    162    115%
22    154    177    115%
23    167    191    114%
24    180    205    114%
25    194    220    113%
26    209    234    112%
27    224    250    112%
28    239    267    112%
29    255    284    111%
30    272    300    110%
31    289    317    110%
32    306    337    110%
33    324    357    110%
34    343    377    110%
35    362    397    110%
36    381    417    109%
37    401    442    110%
38    422    467    111%
39    443    492    111%
40    464    517    111%
41    486    542    112%
42    509    575    113%
43    532    608    114%
44    555    642    116%
45    579    675    117%
46    604    708    117%
47    629    758    121%
48    654    808    124%
49    680    859    126%
50    707    909    129%
51    734    959    131%
52    761    1008    132%
53    789    1058    134%
54    818    1108    135%
55    847    1158    137%
56    876    1208    138%
57    906    1258    139%
58    937    1308    140%
59    968    1358    140%
60    999    1408    141%

Notes on XP gain:
At levels 8 and below, the 2.0 rules have faster advancement.
At level 9, the XP gained per level decreases dramatically compared to 1.3. (At level 9, you are getting ~2/3 XP in 2.0 vs 1.3).
This slowly ramps up to level 25, where 1.3 & 2.0 have the same XP gain per level. Levels 26-29 XP gain is slightly less than 1.3, with level 30 actually being on par again.
After level 30, XP gain in 2.0 keeps getting slower, taking an abrupt slowdown at level 46 and beyond.

Perhaps more interestingly, is comparing the number of blankets needed to gain a level under the two systems. You gain levels 3-11 faster in v2 than current. Thereafter its slower.

 

[Cedric]

Hmmm, I have to admit, I sort of like that curve for a game. I want it slightly easier for new players to catch up and I want it harder for older characters to advance even though that affects me.

 

[Alkalin3]

Pretty much 100% agree with you. I wouldn't mind a quicker curve to 20. But, this is an improvement.

 

[Feldor]

Pretty much 100% agree with you. I wouldn't mind a quicker curve to 20. But, this is an improvement.

That's my opinion exactly. If we were willing to have a more complex point curve, I'd be tempted to make the XP chart be:
2 -> 6
3-4 -> 5
5-6 -> 4
7-8 -> 3
9-10 -> 2
11-12 -> 1
13-15 -> .9
16-20 -> .8
21+ -> as is

It seems like a small change, but it accelerates things notably at the low level (possibly to much) while leaving things appropriately slowed at the high level. This changes the slowdown to starting at level 18.

It changes the advancement path to look like:

Level    blankets v1.3    blankets v2    % v2/v1.3
1           
2           
3    4    3    75%
4    7    5    71%
5    11    7    64%
6    15    10    67%
7    20    12    60%
8    25    15    60%
9    31    19    61%
10    38    23    61%
11    45    28    62%
12    52    38    73%
13    60    48    80%
14    68    59    87%
15    77    71    92%
16    87    82    94%
17    97    94    97%
18    107    107    100%
19    118    119    101%
20    130    132    102%
21    141    144    102%
22    154    158    103%
23    167    173    104%
24    180    187    104%
25    194    201    104%
26    209    215    103%
27    224    232    104%
28    239    249    104%
29    255    265    104%
30    272    282    104%
31    289    299    103%
32    306    319    104%
33    324    339    105%
34    343    359    105%
35    362    379    105%
36    381    399    105%
37    401    423    105%
38    422    448    106%
39    443    473    107%
40    464    498    107%
41    486    524    108%
42    509    556    109%
43    532    590    111%
44    555    623    112%
45    579    656    113%
46    604    690    114%
47    629    739    117%
48    654    789    121%
49    680    840    124%
50    707    890    126%
51    734    940    128%
52    761    989    130%
53    789    1039    132%
54    818    1089    133%
55    847    1139    134%
56    876    1189    136%
57    906    1239    137%
58    937    1289    138%
59    968    1339    138%
60    999    1389    139%

 

[Tantarus]

Hmmm, I have to admit, I sort of like that curve for a game. I want it slightly easier for new players to catch up and I want it harder for older characters to advance even though that affects me.

Yeah I dont know, I feel like even at high level attending 10 games a year should yell more then 4 build...

 

[Feldor]

Yeah I dont know, I feel like even at high level attending 10 games a year should yell more then 4 build...

This XP system has a subtle but clearly present message. If you are over level 45, they don't really want you getting much bigger. They are not going to make you create a new character, but if a significant part of what you enjoy is gaining build, you probably want to. Feel free to keep playing the game, but you've already "won" the advancement game so be looking for other sources of fun. You'd have eventually hit his rate of build in the old system too -- it'd just have take another several years. So the level 46+ advancement rate was inevitable.

The XP system in 2.0 says to me "we want people playing in the 9-30 range preferably and wish we could set our max level cap at 45." (XP is notably faster under 9, slows a bunch starting at 9, and then starts getting slower than 1.3 at level 31 and to again to a larger extent at level 46.)

 

[Tantarus]

With taking out Magic item progression in many ways in 2.0, Which I think is great and long over due. Stripping high levels level progression down to half feels really bad. I would far prefer a level 45 cap that put your blanket into alts. That way you at least felt like you where getting value out of your weekend in some from of progression, even if not on that character. I would far more prefer getting a decent amount of build on an alt then getting .4 for a weekend of play on my main. And it takes away the sting of perming more.

 

[Feldor]

To me, the ability to pick which character gets XP for a weekend sounds great. It could also work great for chapters with low level campaigns with a level cap -- you can have players earning XP and allocating it to other characters.

 

[Eldor]

I very much support the idea of being able to decide which of your characters gets the build from a weekend.

Currently about the only way to build up an alt without playing it, is with Gobbies, Dragon stamps or spending real money to build it up. If I had the ability to give the build I get from a weekend to an alt, instead of only giving it to the character I am playing, I would be more likely to occasionally shift some build towards an Alt, in preparation for when my main character reaches a satisfactory amount of skills.

In fact it would encourage me to decide on an end point for my mains skills that I would view as "complete", and allow me to keep playing my main with a "complete" skill set, yet build an alt up for when I reach an end story for my main, if I ever do.

Over time, my Alt would get enough starting build to have the skills required to match whatever background I wanted to start with, Eventually I would start occasionally play my alt, who now does not have to start as a new adventurer, and who could have been build up with other alts from the group I play with to create a common story together, that does not have to be the default, we all just started adventuring together option.

Not having to start from scratch with each character, without having to spend gobbies, Dragon stamps or real cash, I fell would encourage more players to build and play alts, which would lower APLs across the board and allow for a stopping point of character progression without having to stop playing that character.

I would far prefer a level 45 cap that put your blanket into alts. That way you at least felt like you where getting value out of your weekend in some from of progression, even if not on that character.

I totally agree. I don't have a set opinion of what the cap should be, or even if there needs to be one, but being able to feel like you are still getting value out of your build matters.

 

[MaxIrons]

There is one other subtle thing... this encourages NPCing to build a character that isn't at start level. Just putting it out there.